depostit/retainer

[aly]

Sorry I get really confused with this and hope you lovely girls...and boys ;)
can help.

What is the difference between a depostit and a retainer and when would you use either?

thanks

[David Sheppard]

Hi,

I'm sure there will be lots of interpretations of this but one simple way of remembering the difference is that:


A Deposit is a sum of money that goes towards meeting the forthcoming fees to hold a place open in the future. If you were given £50 deposit towards a £100 fee then the parent would owe you £50 when the invoice became due.


A Retainer Fee is usually about 1/2 the normal fee for holding a place open whilst the child is not in your setting. This would be like a parent who only wants a term time placement and their child is not with you during the holidays.

I hope this helps,

David

[aly]

Hi,

I'm sure there will be lots of interpretations of this but one simple way of remembering the difference is that:

A Deposit is a sum of money that goes towards meeting the forthcoming fees to hold a place open in the future. If you were given £50 deposit towards a £100 fee then the parent would owe you £50 when the invoice became due.
A Retainer Fee is usually about 1/2 the normal fee for holding a place open whilst the child is not in your setting. This would be like a parent who only wants a term time placement and their child is not with you during the holidays.
I hope this helps,

David

Thnaks david, so to clarify, a mum comes tomorrow for a chat and needs a place in march....I would then ask for a Deposit rather than a retainer then.

[suzyblue]

A deposit is used when parents want a place, say in January that you have because you have a child leaving in January. It is to show they are serious about taking the space and I charge half the monthly fee and deduct it from their first months charges.

A retainer is used when you already have an empty space and the parents dont want to use it till January. I very rarely use a retainer but if you were asked to hold a space for a long time and you know you could fill it you would ask for a retainer, usually half the normal fee. If a retainer isnt an option for the parents then you can say that if something else comes up in the mean time you may have to take it. I find this quite useful sometimes as it gives me a choice and I can then take the one that fits into my gaps best or is a full timer etc.

[Merry-Minder]

Retainer - is money paid to you to hold a space open until child ready to start with you, or to cover long periods off or school hols etc...

Deposit - either money paid to hold a place that isnt available yet as you already have a child in that space - or it is paid to you as a security deposit in case of ie: parent leaving within notice period (in this case if contracted notice seen through you would most likely give this money back as notice payment)

I hope I havent confused you more and you understand my explanation.

x Sarah x

[Merry-Minder]

Sorry in the time it took me to write my reply about 100 (2) people replied with much better answers!!!!!!:blush:

[David Sheppard]

Thnaks david, so to clarify, a mum comes tomorrow for a chat and needs a place in march....I would then ask for a Deposit rather than a retainer then.

Yes, that is exactly correct. Do you use the NCMA contract? If so, there are the appropriate spaces to fill all this in on the form.

Regards

David

[Chatterbox Childcare]

Sorry I don't totally agree with David.

If you have a parent coming now and wants a space for March as long as you have the space you can charge a retainer from when contracts are signed.

Personally I do NON REFUNDABLE deposits (make this clear to the parent or they may think that they can reneg and get their money back).

Good luck with your mindees

[David Sheppard]

Sorry I don't totally agree with David.

If you have a parent coming now and wants a space for March as long as you have the space you can charge a retainer from when contracts are signed.

Personally I do NON REFUNDABLE deposits (make this clear to the parent or they may think that they can reneg and get their money back).

Good luck with your mindees


Thanks Debbie, this is exactly why I first said there would be other interpretations. You could indeed have either one or both a retainer and a deposit for this situation, depending upon the precise circumstances.

If you have an empty space, that a parent wants to secure for March, then you would be well within your remit to ask them to pay a retainer for that unfilled space. If, however, you have a filled space that you know is being vacated in March then you are looking at a deposit (that may or may not be refundable) towards the bill that would be due when you take on the child. Another variant might be that you have a space becoming available in February in which case you might want both a retainer for one month and a deposit for the actual placement of the child.

Nothing in contracts is ever black and white it is entirely dependant upon the precise circumstances of each situation.

The important difference is that a deposit goes towards a future payment, whereas a retainer fee is paid to you for a current space and not taken off a future invoice.

Hope this helps :thumbsup:

[Minstrel]

:huh: :huh: :huh: